WORKS IN PROGRESS

WORKS IN PROGRESS; Parading the Constitution

By BRUCE WEBER

Published: September 13, 1987

THURSDAY IS THE NATIONAL holiday marking the bicentennial of the Constitution, and, according to Barnett Lipton, the ''We the People 200'' parade to be held that day in Philadelphia might be the largest ever. Lipton is creative director of the special-events division of Radio City Music Hall Productions, which is producing the parade for We the People 200, the nonprofit group that has been arranging events in the Constitution's hometown all year long. ''There'll be 20,000-plus participants,'' Lipton says of Thursday's fete, whose $3.5 million cost has been covered by public and private donations.

At the center of the parade is what Lipton calls ''a moving pageant'' comprising 30 floats, each illustrating a phrase from the Constitution's Preamble. Most of the floats were designed by Raul Rodriguez of Los Angeles. They are now being completed in four different cities. Elements from two of the floats being constructed at C.E. Bent & Son in Philadelphia are represented in the photograph above. Moana Meyer (top) and W. Paul Brewster are at work on the lead float, ''We the People,'' which features oversized representations of a parchment scroll and a quill pen and inkwell. The oval frames will house portraits of five Founding Fathers, and they'll be adorned by golden eagles. For a float inspired by the phrase to ''establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity,'' Carol Slagle spray-paints a replica of the Capitol that will rest in one pan of the balanced scale of Justice. The White House will sit in the other.

''There were major parades when the Constitution was signed, and at its centennial,'' Barnett Lipton says. ''We wanted to put our signature on this one, so when they do it again 100 years from now, we'll have given them something to comment on as well.''